The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-09-09
ALLfcAToRs IN THE BAHAMAS.
Drifting of Mile. in tI'e Ocean

Drifting Hundreds of Miles In the oo'""
Currents-Curious Supe-stitionS'
Catesby. in his Natural History Of
Carolina, Florida and the Bahama ISL
ands," published about d century ago
sDeaks of having seen alligatcrS on inc
;,ii,r1d Of Andres IL this Sr"AH Al
present there are none, and, with the on
iect of finding out if there was any IRA
dition current bearing upon the SUBJECT,
I made inquiries through the medium Oh
The Nassau Guardian. In answer TO my
questions, / lately received from the rec
for of Jnagua. at the extreme southeast "'
the GROUP. a letter, in which he men
tions that stories Of aLlegat0rS ha'lhS
been Grifted on logs Of mahogany, anu
thrown ND on the shores OF the iSl"n1'
are common, but that he had not been
able to verify them. However, a lev"
DAYS previous to the date Of the letter.
. while on a visit TO one of the settlements
Mr. de GIauville, the rector, was sAo"n
the skin of an alligator eight feet long
from tin to tip, which had been shot on
shore q DAY Or two before by a man
whose name is gIyeu. Many l0T' ma
h0canv bad been cast up III the shores
| of IDapua about that time; but the aui-
gator had not been observed to ]ano'
and had been seen on shore severaItLneS
before it wa shot.
There seems, however, to he no rea-
! sonAbIe doubt that the alligator WA
drirtcd by the current from tn" 3nntn-
east to Inagua on a log Of mahogany
from San Domingo, the nearest place IN
which aIligators are found. This means
that it Travelled y distance Of from loC
| to $50 miles. With regard t. tn" occur
r"llct Of ~alligators On Andres. Cat"SoE
was A verv accurate observer, and there
! seems tn be DO reason for doubling hLS
statement. These airgators w"uit az
pear to Lave been carried on dTIitwOou
from tie northwest coast of Cuha, a
distance of 800 miles by the gulf s~treH''l,
and cast on the edge of DE Great Ba-
hama bank, whence local currents.
aided by the wind, might have carried
them TO the west coast OF A@droS. The
absence OF traditions on the subject ma!
be owing to the fact that the present
inhabitants of Andres are principally
descendants IF persons who settled
there at period subsequent to CateSby's
visit.
While on the s1binct of Andres, may
| be allowed to mention W rather curl
ouS suptrstiCions current among the IN
huDitIutS OF that interesting island? The
interior of the northern Part Of the isl
land consists of swamp' and lakes, inter
3persrd with pttchrs OF rocky ground on
which the Bahama pine tP. Bahamensis)
grows thickly. The negroes have a
! great dislike to entering these pine
woods alone, or even in small compa-
| MES, for they say that a peculiar T;lye OF
! m]aievoIeHt being, called little people,"
iubahit the trees. These creatures are
said to I've like tiny men covered with
hair. They sit on the pine bonghs, and
if a man notices them aud points them
ont to his companions, the whole
party is rendered inmovable for a day
ami a night; but, il fire is thrown at the
little people" they DIS tppear without
doing any harm.
The other superstition also relates to
the pine woods. Creatures like enUr.
nous hairy men. called by the negroes
"Yayhooa, are said to march about the
woods in Schools" the largest coming
first; ami when dey eotch You dey tear
you" These beings are much more
dreaded than the little people" 1t looks
as il their name had been given by some
travellers familiar with "Guliiyer's Trav-
els, and struck with the resemblance
between them and the terrible creatures
Of S@iit's imagination.
Both Of these superstitions would APP
pear TO be traditionsof the land from
which the negroes originally came. The
"hule people" arr probably a recollection
OF the small aboreal monkeys. while the
"Iaylioos" represent the g~orillas OF wesi
Africa. John Gardner in Science.
...EsH-l